The Carson City Mint is famous for the Morgan dollars that it produced, but they were not the first dollars struck at the mint. When the Carson City mint opened in 1870, the dollars of the day were the Seated Liberty design. These dollars were struck at Carson City in limited amounts and only for four years until the United States instituted its newest dollar, called a trade dollar.
The seated dollars from Carson City are some of the hardest dollars to obtain in all of the dollar series. Mintages were paltry compared to other types of silver dollars or to other mint productions. In 1870 Carson City struck only 11,758 dollars. That was Carson City's highest mintage of seated dollars. In 1871, only 1,376 dollars were made, which is the lowest mintage Carson City coin. The year 1872 only saw 3,150 produced, and 1873 rounded out the series with a mintage of 2,300 coins. The 1873-CC is not the lowest mintage of the Carson City seated dollars, but it is regarded as the rarest. This is because many of that year's production were melted and re-struck into the new trade dollar design.
Two factors came into play with the mintages of our earlier silver dollars. First, a dollar was a relatively large sum of money that carried a great deal of buying power. Second, our silver dollar was slightly smaller than other countries' similarly sized coins. With the amount of silver being the greatest factor of worldwide value, the demand for our silver dollars was relatively low in foreign markets. Both of these factors kept the need for large sums of circulating dollars low. With that, mintages in the seated series are relatively low compared to our later Morgan dollar series (which ironically was the same size as the seated series, but only after silver prices had risen and the dollar had gained in demand).
When one is collecting Carson City coins, a Carson City seated dollar can easily become a pinnacle of one's collection. Even the most obtainable 1870-CC seated dollar is relatively scarce. If one is trying to go even further and collect a coin from each year, the task becomes more daunting and expensive. Coins in lower grades are more affordable, but an 1873-CC starts at around $5,000 for a low grade coin if it can be found. Trying to collect an uncirculated set is truly an accomplishment. There are only a few known coins to remain in that pristine condition and the price quickly climbs into six-figure territory.
Carson City's first dollar coins are truly a collecting specialty. With less than 19,000 coins made over a four-year span, it is understandable that these coins are rare. Many collectors aspire to own these and hence, the prices they bring are handsome.
• Allen Rowe is the owner of Northern Nevada Coin in Carson City.
